Haaland Double Sends Norway to World Cup Quarters, Ends Brazil Run Early

EAST RUTHERFORD, United States (AFP) — Erling Haaland netted a pair of late strikes to carry Norway into their maiden World Cup quarter-final, sealing a 2-1 victory over Brazil that marked the five-time champions' earliest elimination from the tournament since 1990.

Norway keeper Orlan Nyland turned in a commanding performance at MetLife Stadium, denying Bruno Guimaraes from the spot in the first half before Haaland found the net twice inside the final 11 minutes to shock the Brazilians. Neymar pulled one back deep in added time from Brazil's second penalty of the match.

Haaland's two goals brought his tournament tally to seven, matching Lionel Messi, and set up a quarter-final meeting with either co-host Mexico or England in Miami on July 11. For Brazil, who brought in Carlo Ancelotti hoping to break a 24-year World Cup drought, this marked a sixth consecutive tournament in which European sides ended their campaign. Their last failure to advance beyond the last 16 came 36 years ago, when Argentina beat them 1-0 in the round of 16.

Gabriel Martinelli was the sole change to Brazil's starting line-up, coming in for the injured Lucas Paqueta after his stoppage-time winner against Japan in the previous round. Norway welcomed back Julian Ryerson, the Borussia Dortmund defender who had sat out the previous two matches with a thigh problem.

Patrick Berg appeared to put Norway ahead within three minutes, but the goal was disallowed for offside in the build-up. Brazil later earned a penalty when Kristoffer Ajer collided with Matheus Cunha inside the area. Referee Ismail Elfath first rejected the appeal, but VAR reviewed the incident and the spot-kick was awarded. Guimaraes took it, yet Nyland read the attempt and pushed the Newcastle midfielder's weak shot away to his left.

Nyland stayed central to Norway's resistance, getting a vital deflection on Martinelli's low shot across the face of goal to stop Guimaraes from a simple finish. When Martin Odegaard gave the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area, the goalkeeper again rescued his side by stretching a leg to block Vinicius Junior.

Haaland had been quiet for long stretches, but his physical presence opened a clear chance before the interval. He unsettled Gabriel Magalhaes and Marquinhos before the ball fell to Odegaard, whose shot Alisson Becker handled well.

At half-time, Norway coach Stale Solbakken introduced Oscar Bobb and Andreas Schjelderup for Antonio Nusa and Alexander Sorloth. Brazil responded by sending on Endrick, and Vinicius almost created an instant breakthrough with a clever outside-of-the-foot pass that put the teenager through on goal, only for Endrick to lift his finish wide as Nyland closed him down.

Nyland continued to deny Brazil, turning away a fierce effort from Rayan and making another strong stop against Guimaraes, though the offside flag had already been raised. Neymar's entry in the 67th minute brought loud cheers from a crowd largely backing Brazil.

Norway eventually took the lead through Schjelderup, who swung in a cross from the left and rose above Gabriel to head powerfully into the corner. As Brazil pushed for an equaliser, Nyland produced a remarkable fingertip save while backpedalling to keep Kristoffer Ajer from heading into his own net.

Haaland extended Norway's cushion in the 90th minute, driving a low shot into the corner from the edge of the box. That proved decisive when Neymar converted from the penalty spot in the 10th minute of stoppage time, after a heated exchange with Nyland following an elbow on Casemiro.